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Enough Zoff resigns as Italy coach
Posted: Tuesday July 04, 2000 10:40 AM
ROME (AP) -- Dino Zoff, fresh from guiding Italy to the finals of the Euro 2000 soccer championships, resigned Tuesday in response to harsh criticisms from government opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi. "I was offended as a man," said Zoff, in announcing his resignation. "I don't see why people must publicly denigrate the work of others." Zoff said he had trouble sleeping Monday night after learning of the put downs of his performance by Berlusconi, a media magnate who leads Italy's center-right Polo coalition and owns the AC Milan soccer club. "I cannot continue to work under these conditions," Zoff said. Berlusconi called the defeat in Sunday's final to France, in which Italy allowed the tying goal with just 30 seconds left, "dishonorable." Calling Zoff's decisions those of an "amateur," he blamed the coach for not focusing more defensive attention on France's star Zinedine Zidane, who nevertheless was relatively ineffective in the final. Zoff, a former goalkeeper, and the only Italian to win both a European Championship and World Cup, nearly became the first man ever to win a European title as both player and coach. "I don't take lessons in dignity from Mr. Berlusconi," Zoff added. The former coach of Juventus and Lazio overcame a groundswell of pre-tournament criticisms to lead Italy to its first European Championship final since 1968, the year he stepped into the starting goalkeeper slot at the age of 26. Berlusconi, whose political coalition has made recent gains in elections, may risk losing sympathy from those who were pulling for Zoff and his players to complete their surprise run for the championship. "I can't believe it," Berlusconi said, after hearing word of the coach's resignation. "I never offended anyone, especially not Zoff. I didn't denigrate his work. I made a technical critique, one that I still deeply believe." Berlusconi, whose Milan squad features four of Zoff's national team stars, including captain Paolo Maldini, said the ruling majority was trying to turn his personal criticisms into a political cause. "This left has really gone all the way," said Berlusconi. "But let's get real -- with the country in the condition it's in, does it seem serious to transform a soccer critique into a state affair." But left-center majority leader Walter Veltroni countered that Berlusconi, who also owns the Mediaset communication conglomerate, should understand the weight of his political position. "Berlusconi knows that when he speaks, he speaks as head of the opposition," said Veltroni. "He cannot say conveniently that he has spoken as president of AC Milan or as a political man or as owner of Mediaset."
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